The present invention relates to a power module and power converter having a plurality of semiconductor chips including a built-in diode.
For example, power semiconductor chips are widely used for power converters such as inverter and convertor, or for power modules such as power control devices. Then, with increasing power capacity or other causes leading to an increase in the heat generated by semiconductor chips, the power module is required to have high reliability even in a high temperature environment.
In the power converter and the power control device, when a plurality of semiconductor chips are connected in parallel, the current balance of the semiconductor chips is an important factor in achieving high reliability.
Note that with respect to a voltage-driven power semiconductor device, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. Hei 11 (1999)-235015 (Patent Literature 1) discloses a method for storing in advance a gate current value that achieves the most balanced distribution of current so as to improve the current balance in each element, and controlling each gate current control circuit based on the stored data.